A Fire in My Bones

Those of you who preach (either full or part-time) know first-hand how important encouragement is to the preacher. The title of this article comes from Jeremiah 20:9, a passage which is usually applied to preachers. It seems to me, however, that we can find something in this passage to encourage all of us.

In Jeremiah 20, the prophet has become discouraged. When the priest, the chief officer of the house of the Lord, the head religious honcho of the whole country, heard Jeremiah preaching, he had him beaten and put in stocks. Talk about a negative reaction to a sermon! And this kind of attention was beginning to weigh on Jeremiah. Even though the priest (Pashur) had Jeremiah released the next day, God, through Jeremiah, still had something to say to him. Jeremiah told Pashur that his name was going to be changed. God was going to start calling him Magor-missabib. (Since you’re reading this, you just pronounce that name however you want.) The name means “terror on every side.” In my life, I have worn several descriptive nicknames, given by friend and foe alike. However, this is one that I have thankfully avoided. How would you like it if you found out your new nickname was “terror on every side” and then, to make. matters worse, you found out it was God who gave you that nickname?

You might be thinking that this is the message of encouragement; that when you get down because of the way people (even God’s people, sometimes) treat you, you can call to mind one such person who got his comeuppance. That’s not it! You will notice that in this story, we have not gotten to Jeremiah’s statement about a “fire in my bones” yet. You see, just seeing someone else punished and brought low didn’t make Jeremiah feel any better. That ought to be a lesson to us, too; seeing others brought low should not make us feel better about ourselves.

Actually, Jeremiah is a little put out with God. In 20:7, he accuses God of deceiving him. It sounds like he’s blaming God for the trouble he gets into when he preaches God’s Word. Sometimes preachers get into the same trouble today. Nothing has changed on that score. However, all of us, preachers or not, get discouraged and sometimes it’s because we’re doing the right thing and suffering for it. Maybe you don’t get up in a pulpit every Sunday, but I know there are those who stand for the truth and are called “troublemakers,” “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and all manner of evil things are said about them on account of Jesus. See Matthew 5:10-12. Even if someone else comes to your rescue and pronounces judgment (from God’s Word) on the one who troubles you, that still doesn’t take away the sting of the criticism or attack, does it? Jeremiah 20:9 is where we find the encouragement: “But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,’ then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.”

Do you see it? The encouragement is that when you are the kind of Christian God wants you to be, you cannot stand NOT speaking forth the things you have seen and heard (Acts 4:20). It becomes such a part of you, that it’s stronger than that which threatens to overcome you. You may feel like you’re too tired to go on, but that fire is a strength that will not let you down. Skip down to verse 11 (this is powerful): “But the Lord is with me like a dread champion; therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed, with an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.” This is so encouraging! I don’t have to worry because God is on my side.

Remember, the faithful Christian is preaching the Gospel, whether a full-time preacher or not (Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15, 16). Sometimes that preaching is going to be to Christians who have fallen away or who are still in church but are following false doctrine or leading others away from God rather than to Him. In many of those cases , the truth is going to be resisted and the attacks can get very personal. All of that is terribly discouraging to the one fighting the Good Fight. It will seem like there is no use in continuing. You may be a laughingstock. Well, let’s not be in such a hurry to hand over the keys to the kingdom to the devil. There is new strength to be had. There is a fire that has not gone out and it is in the bones of the faithful who will not be denied and will not be shut up. God put that fire there because He loves you and so do I. Don’t let that ole’ Pashur bother you. He’s got his coming!

Donnie Bates

A Slippery Disposition

Did you ever see one of those “greased pig” contests? You know the purpose of the grease is to make the pig slippery and harder to catch. Everybody has a lot of fun watching a bunch of guys slip and slide all over those pigs trying to catch one. Well, maybe not everyone. The pigs might say different.

While giving a lesson on the beatitudes a few years back, the phrase “slippery disposition” occurred to me as something that would be desirable for a Christian to have. I mean the kind of disposition or attitude in a person that would make it hard for the one who is after us to get a good hold; make it harder for him to catch us and easier for us to stay away from the evil one.

The beatitudes can very easily be referred to as God’s formula for success. I don’t mean monetary success or success in the arenas of politics or society. I mean true, eternal success: eternal life in heaven. That’s what every Christian should be concerned with. There are several very interesting things about the beatitudes which begin the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). They all begin with the word “blessed,” which describes a blessedness that is beyond the understanding of the world. It would have to be, would it not? How else could He say that those who mourn are blessed?

Each of the first three beatitudes describes what most would think of as negative traits: poverty of spirit (which is, at least in part, emptying oneself), mourning, and meekness. That doesn’t sound like we’re on the right track when it comes to the way to success! When does the good part begin? If you want to skip ahead to the end and find out how we’re supposed to make it, after employing such humility, look at James 4:9, 10, but come right back to Matthew 5:5, because that’s where we’re going to find this “slippery disposition.”

The New American Standard Bible says, “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Most version say, “Blessed are the meek…” The word “meek” or “gentle” is an important one to the Christian. It is in this word that we find the grease. One part of the meaning of “meekness” or “gentleness” is “under control.” The person who is meek is cool while others are hot. He doesn’t allow himself to lose control. She is exactly the kind of person who would make a good peacemaker, one who is pure in heart and merciful. It is no mystery why the first three beatitudes are what they are. Before you can ever put on the characteristics of the others you must prepare yourself in humility, and that includes putting yourself completely under control so that you may offer yourself to the control of God.

Another meaning of meekness is self-sacrifice. It takes one who is in complete control of himself to make of himself a sacrifice. The meek person is not concerned with his own betterment. He’s not defensive of himself. He doesn’t have to have his own way. He’s interested in God being glorified, not himself. This is why Moses is considered the father of the meek (see Number 12:3). Also, consider Jesus…NO ONE was more meek than Jesus, the Terrible Meek. The first time I read that title and knew the author applied it to Jesus, I was surprised, almost offended. How could Jesus be a terrible anything? And yet, if we consider Jesus from the point of view of His enemy (Satan), that’s exactly what Jesus was…the Terrible Meek. Satan could do nothing to Him to overcome Him. He tempted Jesus, but Jesus was willing to suffer rather than give in. He had complete control. He offered Jesus everything that He came here for (the whole world) and Jesus still gave God the glory. He wasn’t interested in His own glory over His heavenly Father’s. The worst the devil could do to Him was the very thing Jesus came here to do. How do you win over someone like that? You don’t, and that’s the point! Jesus had such a slippery disposition, Satan could never get a good hold on Him.

This week, when you feel the old devil breathing down your neck, remember the meekness Jesus wants you to have. He didn’t give us Matthew 5:5 just so we wouldn’t get too full of ourselves because He wants the spotlight. He was trying to tell us what we need in order to survive. Put yourself under control. Give yourself up to God and let Him control you through His Word. There will be some situations in your life that will make it very hard to focus your attention anywhere else but at the enemy bearing down on you, but you can do it. Close your eyes (spiritually, at least), take a deep breath, and even with your enemy right on your heels, give yourself fully to: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God…You shall not put the Lord your God to the test…You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only” (Matthew 4:1-11).

It may not feel like it, but you have all the strength and weapons you need to fight off a frenzied attack by the devil. You don’t have to go out of your house into a world today, or the rest of this week, or the rest of your life, in fear. All you need to do is slather on the grease and he can’t touch you. God gave you meekness just for that purpose because He loves you and so do I.

Donnie Bates